Should Parents Immunize Their Children?

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The effect of vaccinations is not limited to the United States, but to all countries due to rate people traveling all over the world and being exposure to different viruses. Traveling individuals with low vaccination rates can easily cause an outbreak in any country. The article from the Wichita Eagle (2016) should have provided more statistics on the vaccines that needed to be addressed. The article failed to discuss the vaccines the students of low vaccinated schools did or did not have, if they had similar vaccines which then put them at risk for certain diseases or all vaccine related diseases.

Thus, it is this writer’s opinion, the government should limit the reasons for not vaccinating a child. The only reason a person should not be vaccinated is due to medical related issues validated by a medical provider. The Wichita Eagle article (2016) did discuss the type of exemption allowed by Texas, which was for nonmedical but did not explain what parents were using for the exemption. The process of vaccinating should be more open and allow people to control the procedure and be aware of any risks, as the article was alluding too. Mass media should work with the government and deliver scientifically reliable information to the people, via television, internets, and social media advertisements, because the absence of information leads the public follow information found on the internet or by word of mouth. This writer also believes that children show be educated about immunizations so they are better educated when they have children.

References

Achievements in Public Health, 1900-1999: Control of Infectious Diseases, (1999, July 30). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4829a1.htm

Casey, A. (2016, November 21). Your Unvaccinated Child is Putting My Child at Risk, Protesting Parents Say. The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved from http://www.kansas.com/news/nation-world/national/article116183003.html

Childhood Immunization, (2017). Retrieved from https://medlineplus.gov/childhoodimmunization

Margolies, D. (2015). Kansas And Missouri Rank in Bottom Half of States for MMR Vaccination Rates. Retrieved from http://kcur.org/post/kansas-and-missouri-rank-bottom-half-states-mmr-vaccination-rates#stream/0

Offit, P. A. (2007). Thimerosal and Vaccines- A Cautionary Tale. New England Journal of Medicine, 357:1278-1279. Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org/doi/citedby/10.1056/NEJMp078187#t=citedby

Stern, A. M., & Markel, H. (2005). The History of Vaccines and Immunization: Familiar Patterns, New Challenges. Health Affairs, 24(3). Retrieved from http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/24/3/611.full

The History of Vaccines, (2017). College of Physicians of Philadelphia. Retrieved from https://www.historyofvaccines.org